Not only does she star in this new holiday movie, but it was shot in her hometown.
When Micah Lynn Hanson first heard A Match Made at Christmas would be produced where she grew up, she said to herself, "I have to get this no matter what"...Coeur d'Alene, Idaho isn't exactly a hotbed of feature film production after all. It worked out for the Christian actress, who plays the female lead and tells Christian Film Blog in an interview that the experience "was amazing."
In fact, she was so excited about the possibility that after auditioning, and before landing the role, she even reached out to the director to inform her that she had lots of local connections and was ready to lend a hand in any way possible. Hanson of course got the part and then ended up doing plenty more, helping bring in lead actor Tim Llewellyn and the movie's composer Tyler Smith, both of whom she knew from previous projects. Her extra work even earned her an associate producer credit.
Hanson also secured the film's main location, a house that happens to belong to the parents of her best friend from childhood. That meant a lot to her, because she had played there so often as girl that it felt "like a second home." Hanson is grateful to the Lord for everything, saying, "He blessed my socks off with this one. He really did."
"It was so special, just so special. I just feel like the whole film, God wrote it just for me."
The actual writers are sisters Lizzy Poling and Annie Poling Swet, the latter of whom is also the aforementioned director. Their older sister, Rachel Jordan, served as executive producer and her husband, Max Jordan, was director of photography, so this endeavor was quite the family affair.
Despite the fact that they and Hanson are from the same town, it turns out she did not know them before this production. They really hit it off, though, no doubt in part because the whole team consisted of Believers; they even started each day on set with a prayer.
"What more can you ask from bosses than them taking everything you're going to do that day to Christ first? So it was amazing. They're just really good-hearted and humble people. There wasn't a single ego on set."
As to the movie itself, as we reported earlier this week, A Match Made at Christmas is a family-friendly picture (not faith-based) that tells the tale of a small-town gal who loves Christmas, but ends up in a relationship with a big-city guy who cannot stand the holiday. Hanson described it as a cross between a 1990s romantic comedy and a Hallmark movie.
Christian Film Blog has not yet seen it, but you can catch it on Pure Flix, provided you subscribe to that streaming service, or via Amazon Prime Video, where it is available to rent or buy digitally.